A NIGHT OUT WITH -- Phil Ramone; Getting Behind the Music

By LINDA LEE

Published: February 23, 2003

IF it's cool to be in the band, it's almost as cool to be the man behind the band. And Phil Ramone has been behind many.

He can say things like ''Elvis Costello and I. . . .'' and ''I was walking down the street with Hugh Jackman. . . .'' (Yes, Mr. Jackman, the hunky Australian actor, also sings.) Mr. Ramone named one of his sons B. J. after Billy Joel. He has produced Elton John, Frank Sinatra, Arlo Guthrie, Peter Paul & Mary, Paul Simon, Quincy Jones and Sinead O'Connor.

Sartorially, he is not the most stylish guy, although he wears Armani, Bruno Banani and Hugo Boss. (He does dress in a slimming monochrome: ''I turned to dressing all in black because of Bob Fosse,'' he says.) But he has met and worked with the biggies, and is known to many as the Pope of Pop. He is also the go-to guy when it comes to the technical end of doing a three-and-a-half-hour live show with 18 live performances, and to do it all from a truck parked outside Madison Square Garden. That would be the Grammy Awards, which will be shown tonight on CBS.

Wednesday night, as a break from making music, talking music, selling music and arranging music, Mr. Ramone, who lives in Bedford, N.Y., went for a busman's holiday with two old pals, Daniel Carlin, a music supervisor for the movies, and Hank Neuberger, head of the Chicago Recording Company, along with Mr. Neuberger's son, Jeff, who studies jazz composition at N.Y.U. They caught the show at the Oak Room at the Algonquin, starring the 19-year-old jazz singer and pianist Peter Cincotti.

Mr. Cincotti sang the words to the theme song from ''The Godfather,'' with an occasional nod to Table 1. That's where Mr. Ramone, who says he stopped counting at age 59, was sitting, doing his signature shoulder wiggle, as much a sign of appreciation as one comic telling another, ''That's funny.''

After the show, in the throng of well-wishers and fans, Mr. Ramone had a chance to catch up with Tony Bennett. (He produced Mr. Bennett's album ''Playin' With My Friends,'' which is up for a Grammy against another record he produced, Rod Stewart's ''It Had to Be You.'')

He was especially pleased that Mr. Bennett had come to hear Mr. Cincotti. ''I first heard him a year ago,'' Mr. Ramone said. ''I was sitting at Feinstein's. Regis Philbin was next to me, saying 'This is incredible, an unbelievable package.' '' Mr. Ramone has turned that package into an album coming out next month.

And then Mr. Ramone led his party out into the lobby to gab some more about music and musicians and to have more drinks.

The subject of naming children came up. ''When Prince Michael is older, what is he going to do?'' Mr. Neuberger asked the others, referring to one of Michael Jackson's children.

Mr. Carlin said, ''You know that Jermaine Jackson named one of his kids Jermajesty?''

All three men know Phil Spector. Mr. Ramone said, ''Remember A&M, the old studio? Herb Alpert had a chandelier, and one time Phil was lying on the floor with a gun, trying to shoot out the bulbs. He was a loose cannon.''

And, he added, ''I still get people calling me and saying, Wall of Sound!' and I say, 'No, no, no. That's the other Phil.' ''

Mr. Neuberger said, ''And when the Ramones died. . . .''

''I get the calls,'' Mr. Ramone said. (He is no relation to the punk rockers Dee Dee Ramone, who died last June, or Joey Ramone, who died in 2001, or any other member of the Ramones, none of whom were actually born with the name.)

At midnight they left. Mr. Ramone, who is known for his technical wizardry and musical clarity, was facing days of sound check rehearsals. The show, he said, would come in at exactly three and a half hours. ''We're under contract for that,'' Mr. Ramone said. ''And we're much more disciplined than the Academy Awards.''

Photo: Phil Ramone, left, spent a recent evening with the jazz artist Peter Cincotti, center, and Tony Bennett. (Christopher Smith for The New York Times)